FILE–Team USA’s Steve Serio #11 (L) fights for the ball with Spain’s Daniel Stix #05 (C) as Spain’s Jordi Ruiz #11 (2nd R) and US’ Jorge Salazar #25 (R) look on during the Men’s Preliminary Round Group B of the men’s Wheelchair Basketball match between USA and Spain during the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris on August 29, 2024. (Photo by BERTRAND GUAY / AFP)
Reigning champion USA breezed past France in the wheelchair basketball quarter-finals at the Paris Paralympics on Tuesday to book its spot in the last four alongside rivals Great Britain, Germany and Canada.
The wheelchair basketball powerhouse beat the Games’ hosts 82-47 to set up an all-North American semi-final against Canada, while Britain will face European rivals Germany.
The day’s action culminated with the hotly-anticipated showdown between the USA and France, a repeat of the men’s basketball final at the Olympics last month.
“To come out and to have such a great team victory for us was absolutely the goal,” said USA captain Steve Serio.
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“We didn’t want France to get any momentum. They’re a really talented team, and they build off of mistakes really well.”
Just like at the Olympics, the atmosphere in the Bercy Arena was raucous right from the get-go, with the capacity crowd belting out the French national anthem before wildly celebrating every basket their team made in the first quarter.
France doggedly stuck with the Americans through the first two quarters but the USA nonetheless went into half-time leading by 14 points.
The champions found their groove at the beginning of the third quarter and soon accelerated into a dominant lead, spearheaded by the excellent Jake Williams and Brian Bell.
Leading 68-37 by the start of the fourth quarter, the Americans had succeeded in markedly turning down the volume inside the arena.
However, Serio said after the match that he appreciated the atmosphere created by the home fans.
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“I want to thank the people of Paris for coming out and supporting Paralympic athletes. That arena was one of the most fun arenas I’ve ever played in,” the 36-year-old said.
Earlier, Tokyo 2020 bronze medalist Britain overpowered Australia to book its spot in the last four.
Gregg Warburton, Ben Fox and Lee Manning all scored over 20 points as Britain emerged victorious 84-64.
“It was a bit nervy.” said Manning. “I always find the quarter-finals the ones which bring the nerves and the excitement, if you lose, you’re out.
“I’m really happy, proud and privileged to be in the semi-final. There is a lot of confidence in the group and we’ll see where it takes us,” he added.
Germany beat Spain in the first match of the day, the Germans’ 57-49 win meaning they will have the chance to enact revenge against Britain who beat them by 21 points in their opening pool match last week.
Second on court, Canada overcame the odds to beat the Netherlands 79-67.
Patrick Anderson and Nikola Goncin contributed 20 and 16 points respectively, as the Canadians ensured they will better their eighth-place finish at the Tokyo Games.
The two semi-finals take place on Thursday, with the medal matches set to be played two days later.